On the edge
by ILoveLilies13
Summary: Zoe and Max try to rebuild their relationship after the disastrous wedding but it's a rocky road and they face many struggles on the way. {Though 98% of this story is my imagination that other 2% is things that happened is Casualty. I wanted to rewrite what happened in Casualty between Zoe and Max with my own ideas of what could of happened and that's how I got this story idea!}
1. Prologue

**Hello! I thought i'd write a little Zoe and Max story for you all. It's set after the wedding when max asks for a divorce and their relationship is a bit rocky.**

* * *

Zoe finished her wine and looked at max who was sitting with his face in his hand and staring at the table glumly.

"Maybe this wasn't the brightest idea" she said.

Max snapped out his daydream. "No."

"I'll get off." Zoe said she stood up and collected her papers ready to leave.

"Don't go." Max said as he looked at her for the first time in what felt like hours. He felt ashamed, sad and guilty about what he was about to say but it had to be said. "There's something I want to say."

Zoe looked at him with a scared and sad expression and sat back down again.

"Look, it's really awkward when you're angry with someone you work with and it's even even harder when that person's your wife." He looked up at Zoe with a blank expression.

"I want a divorce."


	2. Shoes

**Sorry for not updating this story for so long! I promise i'll try to update it regularly from now on but I hope you enjoy this chapter. P.s I miss Zoe :(**

 **Though 98% of this story is my imagination that other 2% is things that happened is Casualty. I wanted to rewrite what happened in Casualty between Zoe and Max with my own ideas of what could of happened and that's how I got this story idea!**

* * *

It was so simple. Over the top and then whoosh you're gone. He trembled as he climbed onto the ledge he'd been looking over for the past hour as he'd contemplated whether or not he should. As he shivered he shuffled forward so his toes stood just on the edge. Trying to keep his balance he tipped his head backwards and listened to the whistling of the wind that pulled at his jumper as though it wanted to push him forward. Just one more step he thought. One more step then nothing.

"What are you doing?" said a voice behind him that he recognised so clearly. It could only be her.

* * *

Max awoke with a jolt from dreams of blazing fires and icy cold waters. He'd had many nightmares, after the disastrous wedding, that he was drowning in the water and Zoe was standing on the bank with another male laughing at him.

He looked at the clock and groaned before putting his pillow over his head in an attempt to block out the sound of lofty singing in the shower. Memories of playing drunk chubby bunny with Robyn and Lofty came back to him from the night before which made him laugh to himself. He could remember seeing lofty nearly choking and being sick though blurred vision before stumbling off to bed. His not so great mood was accompanied by a thumping headache but as he poked his head out from under the pillow he spotted a glass of water and paracetamol from Robyn and sighed with relief. After having a cold shower to try and wake himself up he pulled on a t-shirt with his jeans and left to go and get a big english breakfast at the pub, before working, in attempt to cure his cruel hangover.

"Good morning." Zoe greeted the three as they walked past her and into reception. Instead of good mornings she just received cold hard stares. She put her hand out and stopped Max, offering him a cigarette. Max looked at the hand on his shoulder then the box she was offering. "I'm quitting." He lied and shrugged Zoe's had of his shoulder.

"Those things will kill you."

Zoe turned her head from watching Max leave to see Dylan approaching her with his usual frowning expression.

"Do you have a lighter I can borrow?" She asked.

"You know I always do." Dylan replied as he pulled a lighter out his pocket and lit the cigarette held in-between her fingers.

"He's still not willing to talk to me about it." Zoe said as she breathed in and blew out the sweet smoke.

"I wouldn't."

Zoe snorted at the usual bluntness of her best friend. He didn't seem nice or kind to others but he was more human than everyone else she knew.

"You're not happy." Dylan said with a sigh.

The phrase well done sherlock appeared in Zoe head. "I'm fine." she replied though her tone suggested otherwise. "And don't you say i'm not." she said watching Dylan's mouth open to retort.

Dylan paused for a moment, took a breath in then spoke. "I'm not sure you're happy while you're seemingly stuck in this limbo." he said sternly.

They stood in silence for the next five minutes watching the smoke of the cigarette curl in the air as the smell clung to their clothes and the wind blew about their coats. Zoe sighed and put out her cigarette. "My breaks over." she said before heading back inside.

With a look at his watch Dylan followed swiftly behind her, listening to her heals click as she walked.

* * *

Max smiled though gritted teeth as he looked at his trainers covered in the remains of a drunken night then back at the culprit whom unfortunately put them there.

"I'm so sorry!" she mumbled as she wiped her mouth.

"It's okay just er, here you go. Try aiming at the target next time." he said as he handed her a bowl and gratefully accepted tissues from Noel.

"You're gonna need more than tissues for that mate." Cal laughed as he walked past to call his next patient.

Ethan stepped over the mess to collect files from noel and grimaced too, "Ooh yeah, try a wet wipe."

"It's going to need more than a wet wipe Ethan. I'd pop them in the wash if I was you Max." Charlie added whilst signing a discharge form.

Louise looked over the reception counter and recoiled quickly. "I'd throw them away."

"I think I feel a lot better now. Sorry!" the girl said as she handed Max the bowl back and left with red cheeks of embarrassment. As Max turned back round from watching the girl leave he saw Rita coming towards him with a mop and bucket. "I hate to ask but," she began and Max groaned. "after you've cleaned that up cubicle 4 needs to go up to xray."

"The thing is," Max said but Rita just smiled and headed back to cubicles. "my break started 10 minutes ago." he finished though nobody was listening. With another sigh he looked back down and saw a number written across the sick bowl he was holding.

"He shoots, he scores!" Cal whispered in his ear, as he walked past, with a grin.

"Yay." Max said glumly as he dumped the bowl on reception and picked up the mop that was waiting in front of him. His stomach dropped as he watched Zoe walk down the stairs with a smile on her face. As she looked across the room their eyes locked and her smile dropped. Max looked back down quickly and continued his task with haste, cursing under his breath at the smell.

Later that afternoon he walked home though the light rain and stuck his trainers in the washing machine only to find they had shrunk after they cycle had finished. With a shout of frustration he shoved them in the bin and dug out an old pair of football boots for the meantime. He sat on the stairs and wiped his face with his hands roughly as he tried to think.

* * *

"What are you wearing?" Noel laughed as spotted Max walking though reception in a pair of mud covered football boots that were clearly too small for him.

"Do you have that bowl I left here earlier?" Max asked ignoring the statement about his poor choice of shoes.

Noel handed Max a piece of paper and tapped his nose with his finger as he said "I have your back."

"What happened to the bowl?" Max asked as he checked the paper.

"Let's just say, it's in use." Louise said as she nodded in the direction of a man being taken to cubicles, hunched over the bowl.

"Oh." Max said as he watched he man be violently sick. "Well thanks" he said.

"Are you going to ring her then?" Noel asked loudly to Max as he'd already started to leave.

"Ring who?" Zoe asked as she placed her files on the reception and pushed her hair behind her ear.

Noel stuttered a few words of nonsense before sighing with relief as the phone rang. "I should probably get that."

"Yeah you should." Zoe said with a small smile before pulling on her coat that was over her arm and biding goodbye. As she entered the slight chill of the september evening she pulled a cigarette out her bag and checked her pocket for a lighter.

"Looking for this?" she heard a voice say and looked up to see Max.

"Thanks." she said quietly as he lit her cigarette for her. "You took your ring off?" she asked though tried not to sound upset.

"Yeah, i'm uh, going out." Max said as he put the lit his own cigarette and mentally cursed in his head. They stood in silence for a moment both breathing in the smoke that was encircling them.

"Well enjoy yourself then." Zoe said with as big of a smile as she could manage before she began walking to her car. As she approached the door she dropped her cigarette to the ground and stepped on it harshly. She got in the car sat down with a sigh before pulling off her wedding ring and dropping it in the cup holder.

* * *

Max awoke from his dreaded nightmares again to find he wasn't in his own bed. As he sat up he noticed the brunette girl who was sick on his shoes yesterday laying beside him, still fast asleep. As carefully as he could he got out of the bed and pulled his clothes however he couldn't find his shoes. With a curse word on his lips he dashed out the house barefoot as the girl began to wake and began to walk to work.


End file.
